


The 60th Cycle

by FourFaces



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Multi, Spoilers for Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, Swearing, This ends bittersweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 01:49:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14415060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FourFaces/pseuds/FourFaces
Summary: The crew of the Starblaster arrives on a plane inhabited by humans and humanoid beings that call themselves Gems. Unfortunately, retrieving the Light of Creation does not seem to be a simple task on this plane.One-shot. Major Character Deaths. Very bittersweet ending.





	The 60th Cycle

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first TAZ fic and of course it's a crossover lol. In true FourFaces form, there is a bit of angst.

It had been 60 cycles.

Humans seemed to be the dominant species on this plane, with rich forms of flora and fauna throughout the planet. Large beasts with crystals in their bodies roamed in the uninhabited areas. The temple on a beach seemed like a good enough place to touch down.

Magnus was the first to leave the ship, knowing that humans were the dominant species. He was immediately greeted by three, multi-colored women with gemstones embedded into their bodies. Whatever these were, they were not human - and they did not seem friendly.

“Who are you?” The thinnest member of the trio asked, spear drawn.

“Um …” Magnus started. “We are travellers! We’re not here to hurt anyone, I swear!”

“Hmm,” the tallest member started, lifting her gauntlets. The gauntlets disappeared in a flash of light. “He won’t harm us,” she continued, setting a hand on the shoulder of the thin one. “You’re here because something is coming.”

“Y-yeah!” Magnus started. “I’ll get the rest of my crew and we can brief you on it!”

The tallest one smiled sadly.

“We can try and help you but …” She paused, realizing that the human had already retreated into the ship.

~

The Beach House was a warm and friendly environment, the crew quickly realized. The three women had introduced themselves as Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. They were Gems, an alien species who were not native to the planet and who had sworn to protect their adopted home, even after the most recent conflict with their Homeworld had been resolved.

The gems were beginning to ask about the different planes when the door flung open. A heavy, pale, teenage boy burst in, giggling as he held the hand of a slender, dark-skinned teenage girl. They looked at the group and blushed.

“Heh, sorry! I didn’t know we were going to have visitors!” The teen boy chirped, a crack in his voice. He cleared his voice before making it deeper. “Hi! My name’s Steven and this is my girlfriend, Connie! I’m …” He trailed off and looked around the room, finally taking in the appearance of these strangers.

They were definitely not all human, nor were any of them Gems.

“Uh …”

Connie poked Steven in the side.

“Sorry,” Connie giggled. “We just got done seeing a fantasy movie. Those are great costumes though!”

“Connie … I don’t think they’re wearing costumes,” Steven started, eyeballing the non-human members of the crew.

“Oh … huh …” Connie began. “So …”

“They were just starting to tell us about where they are from,” the tall one who called herself Garnet began. “It almost sounds like that one book you and Pearl were reading when you were a child,” she grinned.

“Where we’re from, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes … they’re all just as common as humans,” Magnus started, gesturing to Taako and Lup, Merle, and Davenport, respectively. “Which, I guess isn’t the case at all, here.”

“No ...” Steven replied, cautiously. “So, you’re from another planet?”

Merle seemed uncomfortable as Magnus continued to relay their tale. It did make sense for him to be the main emissary of their group on this world, but something still didn’t seem right.

Garnet had been watching him and seemed to be even more distant as Magnus continued on, occasionally interrupted with an off color remark from one of their elven companions.

“Well, if you need a place to stay and wait for the light, you can stay here on the beach!” Steven chirped, unnerved by the revelation that his entire existence was in danger.

“So, you’re not concerned that something is coming to wipe out your plane?” Lucretia, the dark skinned human of their group began.

“Hah!” Pearl laughed. “We’ve already nearly been wiped out twice now! We’ll be fine! I’m sure you’re going to find the light  and after that we can try and at least protect this city by herding everyone into the Temple. We’ve done it before and we can do it again!”

The crew wanted to be optimistic, but a glance at Garnet betrayed the fear that all of them must have felt.

Garnet had a single tear trailing down the right side of her face.

~

“So, it’s not magic?” Taako asked as he watched Connie training against Pearl.

“No. They’re aliens so it’s … technology, I guess? I still don’t quite know everything about it, but I guess that does kind of make it magic,” Steven shrugged. “Even though Peridot keeps insisting it’s not.”

Connie continued to parry Pearl’s attacks, dodging out of the way swiftly from each strike. It was even better than watching Magnus when he would train.

The elf didn’t want to admit it, but he wanted to take some time to learn this human child’s moves.

“Hey bro,” he heard a voice call from behind him. Taako turned around to see his sister, Lup, strolling down the steps arm in arm with Barry. Amethyst and Garnet were following close behind them. “So, the warp pad was pretty awesome! I thought Barrold was going to hurl,” she teased.

“Was not,” Barry complained.

“I figured they should watch a training session as well,” Garnet began. “Plus, this is a pretty good vantage point for watching for anything coming down from the sky.”

“Ooh! Maybe we should show them fusion training!” Steven grinned.

Connie seemed to perk up at that and broke away from Pearl at a sprint.

Steven sprung up, away from Taako and ran to Connie, arms outstretched. The moment the pair touched, a bright light enveloped them. Taako could see now the pink gemstone on Steven as the pair combined in the light. When the light faded, only a tall, dark-skinned human remained.

No, not human. They were different. The gem in their abdomen was not a human trait.

“What the hell?” Lup gasped.

“Language!” Pearl called out before preparing to summon two holopearls.

“No,” Garnet interrupted. “I need some practice too.”

Pearl blushed and stepped aside as Garnet strode into the arena.

Taako, Lup, and Barry watched, mystified, as Garnet sparred with the human. Every so often, Garnet or the Human would become enveloped in light, the human splitting to become Steven and Connie again and Garnet splitting to become two smaller gems, one red and one blue. After several minutes of weaving in and out in this spectacular dance of light, Garnet and the “fused” human ended in a grapple. Garnet and the human stared each other down for a moment and then burst into laughter. The human split back into their components who continued chuckling their hands clasped tightly.

“What … was .. that?” Taako asked.

“Fusion, dude,” Amethyst chuckled. “We can all do it. Well us gems can. And Connie if she’s with Steven. Sometimes it’s for battle and sometimes, if your Garnet or Stevonnie, it’s because of loooove.” Amethyst teased, drawing out the last word as an attempt to get Steven’s attention.

Lup looked to Barry. A species that could literally combine due to love. It was beautiful.

They had to save this plane.

She watched as Steven and Connie chatted, their hands still clasped together. It sent pangs of nostalgia through her heart.

They loved each other. They truly loved each other even though they were so young.

If they had been fighting together for so long to protect the Earth, then it did make sense to her. After all, it was protecting the planar system that brought Lup and Barry together.

She rested her head on Barry’s shoulder.

~

They barely saw where the light went this time. Davenport and Lucretia volunteered to go to follow it this time. This left Magnus, Taako, Merle, Lup, and Barry to learn more about this plane. Much of the time was spent with the gems, learning how this alien species interacted with the humans. They met other gems while there as well - a Bismuth Blacksmith, a gloomy Lapis Lazuli, a Ferrokinetic Peridot, and a distant Jasper. Through them, they learned more about the war for Earth. The war that took so many gems and humans. 

Lup and Barry spent a lot of their time with Garnet and Steven, learning more about the interactions between the gems and humans. They learned about Steven’s history as a hybrid and how fusion in gems truly a reflection of the gems’ relationships. As they talked about the Gem life cycle, Lup took notice of Steven’s sudden change in demeanor.

One day, Steven took Lup with him to the top of the hill above the temple. A lighthouse was perched near the top and next to it, a small, fenced in plot of land.

As they approached, Lup recognized it to be a gravesite.

Steven knelt in front of it. A tear rolled down his face.

“Hey dad … Guess the world is in danger again. At least this time, we have help … I miss you …”

Lup watched Steven talk to the grave and suddenly it hit her.

Why she was so drawn to observing Steven and Connie.

Much like herself, Steven was going to be long-lived.

Much like Barry, Connie was not.

_ ~ _

Magnus was sitting outside of Bismuth’s workshop, attempting to cool down, when he heard a deep growl. He readied himself as he rose to his feet. He had been told that occasionally corrupted gem beasts would still roam the land, unable to regain their original humanoid forms. He worried that this would be how he died on this plane.

“Stop it, Jasper. You’ve got this,” he heard the growling voice strain out. He followed the voice to see the orange gem curled up on the ground, small green spikes threatening to grow from her shoulder.

“Hey, hey, are you ok?” He asked, running towards her without thinking.

Jasper whipped around and shrunk away as her eyes met his.

“Stay away! I’m dangerous!” She growled. “I … I can’t control it!”

“Can’t control what?” He asked, cautiously approaching her. It was like the Bear all over again. He knew he just had to move slowly.

“The corruption … It never leaves completely … That song … I can’t … It won’t go away!” She howled, clutching her ears.

Magnus moved closer towards her. Just as he was about to reach out to her, he heard a loud clang that startled Jasper out of the state she was in. He turned around to see Bismuth, her hand shaped into a hammer, rhythmically beating a metal instrument.

“Jasper, focus!” She hissed. “Come on, you can do this! Focus on me! Not on that song!”

Jasper’s eyes unfocused for a moment as she stared at Bismuth before she shook her head, blinking rapidly.

“Th-thanks Bis,” Jasper gasped out. “I … I could hear it and it wouldn’t stop.”

“I know …” Bismuth started, walking towards the hunched over gem. Magnus watched as she gently cradled her in her arms. “It will be ok. Steven will figure something out. He’s already been able to reverse it this much …”

Jasper nodded and pressed her head into other gem’s chest. Magnus didn’t want to interrupt the moment between the two, but he also was even more curious about the corruption. Something that could take over a gem’s mind to the point where their body physically changed to something unrecognizable.

It was one of the most horrifying things he had encountered yet.

~

Merle felt honored to be allowed to visit the healing fountain. Pearl had warned him that the Rose bushes would sometimes grow out of control and that they may not take to an intruder coming in, but with a few sweet words, the wild, thorny vines retreated back to their proper places. Merle smiled as he looked around at the rose bushes.

“Wow … How on earth did you do that?” Pearl asked.

“I, uh … have a way with plants,” he chuckled.

“Hmm …” Pearl responded. “Well, this is Rose’s healing fountain. You say you are a healer as well?”

“Yes,” Merle started. “I guess you could say that’s why I was sent on this mission, in case anyone got into any bad scrapes. Of course, I guess it doesn’t matter since everything resets anyway.”

“So if you were to die on this plane …”

“As soon as the Hunger arrives and the _Starblaster_ leaves this plane, POP!” Merle laughed.

“Interesting,” Pearl pondered.

“So, what is this healing fountain made of?” he asked.

“Well, it’s crafted from Rose Quartz’ tears. They’re an incredibly powerful salve, healing gems and humans alike. Steven, being her son, has actually brought someone back from the dead once with his own tears.”

Her face fell suddenly.

“He hasn’t been the same since they failed the last time … He hasn’t even tried …”

Merle wasn’t sure what to say. In the last 60 cycles, he had to admit that he had started to grow jaded towards death. He had to remember that his situation was unique. He could die and come right back. These people however …

“I’m sorry,” he sighed. “Whatever happened …”

Pearl smiled sadly.

“It’s ok. The price of war, I guess,” she lied.

Merle didn’t need to try and get the truth from her to know it.

The pain was still there.

If only he could heal internal wounds.

~

“Barry …” Lup asked during their fifth month as they lay under the stars.

“Yeah?”

“Are .... are you ok with … this?”

“Hmm?”

“With … With you being human and me being an elf?”

Barry rolled over onto his side.

“What’s wrong Lup?”

“I … I was just thinking about how when this is all over … when we finally have a home … What happens when we start aging again?”

Silence stretched between them.

“Lup …”

“I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered, her voice wavering. “It only just now hit me that when we get out of these cycles, you’re going to age and I won’t and … I can’t bear it. I can’t even remember a time without you and the thought of losing you one day …”

“Hey …” he started. “It’ll be ok … I’m not going anywhere yet …”

Lup nodded, pressing her head against his chest.

“I just don’t ever want to lose you …”

Lup and Barry held each other tightly in silence. As Lup drifted to sleep, Barry looked up at the stars.

Perhaps there was something he could do.

He had studied necromancy before. He knew of a possible loophole that would maybe help them both.

He just wasn’t sure if Lup would be alright with it

~

“And if you keep your eye on this oil,” Taako began, waving his wand over the bottle of motor oil, “Presto! It is now completely edible olive oil!”

He poured the bottle of oil into the pan with flair and sure enough, the dark black liquid was now a clear yellow. As the oil sizzled, Amethyst cheered.

“That was awesome! Here!” She started, grabbing one of Steven’s flip flops from near the door. “Do something with this!”

“Alright!” Taako grinned. Amethyst tossed him the flip flop and Taako flicked his wand, instantly changing the shoe into a portobello mushroom.

“Duuude!”

“This is one of Merle’s favorites. Hand me that knife will you?”

Amethyst scampered into the kitchen, grabbing the knife. She started for Taako but slipped.

SHING!

Taako turned around to see the knife sticking into Amethyst’s abdomen.

“Oh my god!” He cried out.

“Oh geez,” Amethyst complained. “I hate when this-”

POOF!

Amethyst’s body disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. Only a purple gem remained, clattering to the ground. Taako stood, frozen in terror.

“She … Oh my god. She’s dead. Oh my fucking god … Think Taako,” He hurriedly told himself. “They could kick your ass if they thought you did this ... Which … You didn’t. This wasn’t your fault. Holy fuck!”

He gently scooped up Amethyst’s gem and looked at it.

“I guess I could hide the evidence for now … They won’t know …”

Before he could slip the gem into his pocket, it began to glow.

“What the fuck?” He cried out.

The gem rose into the air, a mannequin of light shifting through several forms before settling on a new one. As the light faded, Taako could see Amethyst, now wearing a grey tank top with a star on one of the shoulders. She landed on the ground and looked up at him sheepishly.

“Sorry about that! At least I already had a form in mind this time!” She laughed.

Taako stood, frozen in place.

“What the fuck was that?”

“Woah! Language!” Amethyst joked. “Just kidding. P isn’t here.”

“What just happened?” He asked again.

“Oh! Whenever we’re damaged, we retreat into our gems to reform. This is … what … my fifteenth time?”

“So … that’s not your body?”

“Nah. Just a projection. The part you see is just a hologram. This,” she said, tapping on her gem “Is the only actual physical part of my body.”

Taako stared, the realization dawning on him. It was just like the robot plane.

Maybe they could save some of the inhabitants of his plane after all.

~

That night, there was a discussion among the crew as they sat out on the beach.

“The Gems are just like the people in the Robot World!” Taako gesticulated. “We can save  _ them _ at least!”

“But what about the humans?” Lup snapped. “They deserve to be saved as well! I don’t even know if the gems will go with us if they are tasked with protecting this planet!”

“At the very least, we can save SOME of the inhabitants of this planet! It’s better than not doing anything.”

“But we ARE doing something. Any moment now, we’ll get word that Lucretia and Davenport have the light and - “

“But what if they can’t find it?” Magnus chimed in. “What will they do then? We have a way to at least save some of the beings on this planet.”

Lup shot him a look that sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

“They have to find it. We can’t separate them …”

Barry instantly knew what Lup meant. He gently placed a hand on hers.

“We’ll figure out something,” Barry whispered.

Lup took in a sharp breath.

“I just know that they won’t leave. Even if we try to tell them that it’s their best chance, they won’t do it.”

“Well, until we get the light back, we need to have options, Lulu,” Taako said, placing a hand on her free hand.

Lup nodded.

Unbeknownst to the crew, Garnet watched from the window.

She needed to tell them.

~

It was one month from the Hunger’s arrival when the ship returned.

When the door opened, the crew waited expectantly.

Only Lucretia limped out. She looked at them, crestfallen.

“There was something in the water. I barely made it out. Davenport … We couldn’t get it …”

The crew looked to each other and then back to the Temple.

“Well, I guess we have to fall on plan B …” Magnus sighed.

~

The gems were gathered at the Temple. They listened as Lucretia explained the situation. Steven paled as he realized the choice that was being given to them.

“I … I don’t even know if Steven can retreat into his gem,” Pearl started. “He’s never been injured enough to need to … And I can’t leave him behind.”

“Would … Would Connie be able to come?” Steven asked.

Lup looked away as Barry cleared his throat.

“We’ve … we’ve tried to bring humans and other sentient life with us and save for the souls that are in a gem from a robot planet … We haven’t been able to …”

Steven’s face fell.

“Wait, this isn’t fair!” Amethyst growled. “You spent all those months and couldn’t get it? And now you’re saying we only have a month until we’re obliterated? No way!”

“We tried,” Lucretia began. “We really tried. It took so long to find where it fell and … We failed … we failed miserably. I’m so sorry.”

Garnet looked at the group. She was even more silent than usual.

“I can’t go …” Steven whispered. “I can’t leave Connie. Even if I could poof … I can’t leave her …”

“I know, bud,” Amethyst sighed.

Lapis scratched her chin.

“Where in the ocean was it?” she asked. “Maybe I can find it?”

“It’s too dangerous, even for you,” Lucretia sighed. “That creature killed Davenport with one hit.”

Lapis grinned.

“Perhaps then we need something bigger to go down there.”

She looked at Jasper who paled.

“No,” she gasped. “I can’t … I can’t do that to you. To us. The corruption could still spread. You could get corrupted too if I can’t control myself … I can’t … I can’t go in there again.”

Bismuth set a hand on her shoulder.

“If it will save the Earth, if it will save us, isn’t it worth a try?”

Jasper shuddered.

~

They watched as Jasper and Lapis did an uneasy dance on the beach. As the light enveloped them, Steven felt a chill run down his spine.

The last time this had happened, Lapis and Jasper stayed in the ocean for months.

What if they couldn’t control it?

Lucretia followed the fusion out into the ocean, guiding them out towards the direction of the light.

This was their last chance.

~

Lup sat on the couch as Garnet approached her. She sat in silence across from the elf before finally speaking up.

“You’re worried it will fail.”

Lup looked up.

“It … There is a high probability that we will not succeed. But … We can’t go with you.”

“Garnet …”

“Steven is what has kept us grounded. He would not be able to survive his form dissipating. And even if the one future where he would were to occur, he would not survive being without Connie …”

Clairvoyance. This gem was clairvoyant.

“You can see the future.”

“I see many. I see ones where the ship falls into the ocean and we all die, your crew included. I see ones where the light is never found. Where the light stays at the bottom of the ocean. I see many where Malachite loses control.”

“Do you see any where the light is brought back?”

Garnet stayed silent.

“Oh.”

“Lup … I’m sorry. We will have to stay and fight as best as we can. We will make sure all of the inhabitants of Beach City are in the depths of the temple. That is the best we can do. We can’t save the world this time. We may not even save this town. But we will be together.”

Lup looked down at her feet.

“Will … will we succeed?”

Garnet smiled sadly and walked to the elf. She lifted her chin up and then kissed her forehead.

Suddenly Lup saw everything.

Dying so many times.

Then not dying.

Then finding a home.

Destroying so many by accident.

Being forgotten.

She felt a tear trail down her cheek.

“Is … is this certain?”

“No. Fate is a river that branches into streams. The streams can pool or split off and cascade down waterfalls … but some currents are stronger than the others …”

“I … How does this even happen?”

“You can only see what your own future will be … I’m sorry … I wish I could help you more.”

~

When Lucretia returned, she was alone once again. Something had happened. She couldn’t even describe it.

There was no saving this plane.

The day the Hunger came, the sky was dark with a silent storm. The gems were ushering the humans into the temple as the crew looked on. Lup watched, heartbroken, as Connie’s parents urged her to come with them.

“I can’t mom. I need to do this for you. I’ll be ok, I promise,” Connie lied.

“But … you almost died when the Diamonds came,” her mother sobbed. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“They need me,” Connie reassured her. “I will be ok. I have Steven.”

She hugged her mother and father tightly and then the pair disappeared into the temple with the rest of the town.

The gems, Connie, and Steven turned to face the crew.

“Thank you for trying,” Pearl smiled. “We’ll get through this. We’ve got this.”

“Yeah,” Amethyst laughed. “We faced down a tyrannical regime and were way outgunned that time. What’s a little planet eating storm going to do?”

Magnus ran up to Bismuth who seemed to be staring longingly at the sea. He hugged her tightly, surprising her for a moment before she hugged him back.

“When this is all over, I’ll find her and see if I can help her,” Bismuth promised.

Magnus smiled sadly.

Their optimism in the face of this disaster was heartbreaking. He had seen so many planes get swallowed up. So many lives ended in an instant.

This would be no different.

Connie and Steven looked at each other.

“I think we’d be better facing this as Stevonnie,” Connie started.

“Agreed,” Steven nodded. “Shall we?”

Connie nodded and the pair came close together. Lup expected to see them instantly bathed in light but instead watched as the pair danced on the sand, slowly enjoying these final moments together.

She turned away before they fused. She couldn’t watch anymore.

The ship lifted off and the crew watched as the Gems and Stevonnie readied themselves.

The storm raged around them as they traveled up through it Barry looked down through a break in the clouds to see black columns smashing down onto the ground. He could see the Gems fighting against the swarm of shadows. Barry turned away before he could see them get overtaken. He wanted to believe that this plane would survive.

The last they they saw before being split apart into light again was the plane being swallowed whole.

After they had been regenerated in their original spots, Barry looked to Lup who was shaking, her hand gripping Taako’s tightly.

“They were just kids … they were just kids, Taako …”

Taako rubbed circles into her back while looking at Barry with pleading eyes. Barry nodded and walked over, pulling Lup into an embrace.

That night, after the crew briefed Davenport on what had happened after his death, they filtered into their rooms, leaving Lup and Barry alone in the common area.

“She … She stayed behind, even though she could have at least lasted longer inside the temple … I … I don’t want to believe that they’re gone forever. We have to save them. They can’t be gone …”

Barry sat, silent. He looked to her, knowing that this cycle had been harder than the others. This was the first time they had seen children willing to fight the hunger by themselves. This had been the first time they had seen someone who reminded them so much of themselves.

He had been studying ways to make them stronger. To make them able to survive each cycle easier.

Now though, he also had another motive. 

He wouldn’t be ready to die when they did finally end this mission. He didn’t know if his age would instantly catch up with him or not. But he knew he would eventually leave Lup without him.

Unless …

“Lup … I .. I have an idea …”


End file.
